


I'm Fine, Kid

by VolarFinch



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Amnesty, Angst, Aubrey Little Tried Her Best, Aubrey and Duck are siblings sorry I don't make the rules, Comfort, Gen, I love Aubrey Little, Sibling Relationship, TAZ: Amnesty - Freeform, The Adventure Zone: Amnesty, The Pine Guard, The hospital scene we were robbed of, They're siblings okay, This Isn't Tagged As Ship, episode 14, hurt to comfort, past trauma, the adventure zone - Freeform, where aubrey and duck have a talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 16:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15799860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolarFinch/pseuds/VolarFinch
Summary: “And I nearly got you killed, Duck!” Aubrey interrupted shortly, turning to him. Her eyes were like burning embers in the room, filled with tears. Duck could just faintly smell smoke. “This is my fault and I get it, I fucked up, you don’t need to pretend that I didn’t do anything wrong––”“But you didn’t!” Duck responded firmly. “That sign was going to fall over either way and, in the end, all of us are fine––Leo’s fine, Denny’s fine, I’m fine, everyone’s okay, kid. You don’t gotta’ worry about any of us being hurt.”





	I'm Fine, Kid

**Author's Note:**

> HI AGAIN ME WITH TAZ: AMNESTY AND STILL NOT BEING OVER THIS EPISODE MORE SPOILERS IF YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT UP TO EPISODE 14 OF TAZ: AMNESTY I LOVE IT AND AUBREY AND THEY NEEDED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND GET THOSE FEELINGS OUT DAMMIT.

He and Momma had been sitting outside in the hospital waiting room for what felt like days, but was really only two hours. They had been drinking bad coffee and waiting for news on Ned and Aubrey in semi-tense silence, having attempted and failed some pleasant conversation when they kept wandering back to the two incapacitated Pine Guard members and trailing off. However, just as Duck was ready to say he needed to head home and check on Beacon (mostly as an excuse to escape the stressful atmosphere), the doctor walked out.

“Duck? And, uh, Momma?” the doctor called. The two sat up.

“That’s us,” Momma called, standing up. “How’s Aubrey and Ned?”

“Mr. Chicane is still in surgery and so I can’t say exactly how he is, but it looks good,” he said. “As for Miss Little, she’s been up for an hour and running a few test with our nurses to make sure she’s mentally doing okay. It seems she went into shock after the sign fell and had a panic attack once she got into the ambulance,” the doctor continued. Duck knew that much––he’d been in the ambulance and had been the only one who could keep Aubrey somewhat calm and make sure she didn’t accidentally ignite anything. The entire time she kept muttering ‘killed Duck, killed Duck, killed Duck’ and yeah, that definitely made a dent in his heart. “We ended up putting her under for a bit so she could better process and she’s up now and opened to taking visitors.” The doctor turned to Duck. “She requested to see you specifically, Duck.”

“Well, then,” Duck responded, mostly because he had no real way to get out of this situation. He wasn’t very good at touchy-feely stuff and really didn’t want to risk Aubrey’s mental state if he said something wrong. “Uh, lead the way, Doc.”

The walk was uncomfortably quiet but short as they stopped in front of Aubrey’s room. The hospital always made Duck uneasy and he liked avoiding it when he could. It was always so clean and sterile and never made room for something that didn’t belong. If it wasn’t documented, well… it wasn’t respected, at least, in Duck’s experience anyways.

“Miss Little is in this room,” the doctor said. “She’s still in shock, but she seems to be processing better and coping well. Don’t try anything that will scare her. If you need anything, there’s a phone in the room and a nurse will probably be around.”

With that, the doctor left Duck alone.

Duck let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. He knew one of them could die when dealing with these abominations, but it’d never really _hit_ him until the fight with Aqualung. Nearly drowning had _sucked_ , not to mention the weird flashback that had been accompanied with it. Even then, it had been _him_ and not Aubrey or Ned––he always figured they’d get out fine. They were Aubrey and Ned––they found a way.

Except this time, Ned hadn’t found a way. Except this time, Aubrey thought she’d killed people. Killed _him._  Duck didn’t know how to confront that because, well… he’d never been in this situation before. Duck was good at responding to things he’d already been through,––such as, ”It’s a nickname,”––but he’d never been almost killed by a friend before. He’d never expected Aubrey to react so violently to the thought of killing him––she was usually so energetic and lively that he’d never expected she could just… crash like that. It really did remind him just how young she was.

In all honesty? It scared him.

Duck took a breath and walked into the hospital room.

The room, as with everything in it, was stark white. The only things that stood out were the shining steel machine equipment and Aubrey, a vibrant distraction in the empty room with her bright hair and dark skin. Duck made his way over to one of the chairs next to Aubrey, pulling it out and sitting in it.

He glanced up at Aubrey, who hadn’t turned to him. Her gaze was on her hands, which were curled up into fists––he could see her nails digging into her skin. Her hair was angled to the side, effectively blocking Duck’s view of most of Aubrey’s face. He could see that her jaw was clenched and noticed the slight tremor in her shoulders. The heart monitor to her side beeped a little faster than what Duck assumed to be normal.

Duck took another deep breath. “So, uh, Aubrey, how’s––”

“I’m sorry.”

Duck stopped mid-sentence, blinking as he took in Aubrey’s words. Her hands were shaking and the bedding had some damp marks on it. It hit him abruptly that Aubrey was _crying_ because she thought she’d killed him. She thought this was her fault.

Duck’s Big Brother instincts kicked in.

“Wha––Aubrey, this isn’t your fault,” Duck replied, flabbergasted. “You did the best you could do––”

“And I nearly got you killed, Duck!” Aubrey interrupted shortly, turning to him. Her eyes were like burning embers in the room, filled with tears. Duck could just faintly smell smoke. “This is my fault and I get it, I fucked up, you don’t need to pretend that I didn’t do anything wrong––”

“But you didn’t!” Duck responded firmly. “That sign was going to fall over either way and, in the end, all of us are _fine_ ––Leo’s fine, Denny’s fine, _I’m_ fine, everyone’s okay, kid. You don’t gotta’ worry about any of us being hurt. We're safe.”

“I nearly _killed_ you, Duck!” Aubrey shouted, voice shaking. The heart monitor spiked. “I nearly did it _again_ and––” Aubrey cut herself off with a sharp inhale. Her palms were slightly red with some small blood pricking through her skin from the pressure of her nails. A fresh wave of tears filled her eyes and she tried holding back a sob.

“Aw, Aubrey, I––” Duck pursed his lips for a second before sighing. He stood up in her chair and pulled Aubrey into a hug. “You’re okay, kid.” Aubrey’s arms wrapped around his waist, her hands clenching his shirt as she let out a sob. She held on tightly, shaking as the relief finally hit her, he supposed.

A choked noise left her throat. Duck held in a sigh as he held Aubrey, making a mental note to maybe mention this to Momma later.

For now, though, he tucked the thought away and held Aubrey as she cried.


End file.
